Allentown Morning Call - April 17, 1980
Carlton wins 150th as a Phillie, 8-3
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Garry Maddox and Manny Trillo drove in two runs apiece during a six-run ninth inning that carried Steve Carlton and the Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday.
Carlton, 2-0, needed ninth-inning relief help from Dickie Noles when the Cardinals scored all their runs on Keith Hernandez's double, a run-scoring single by Ted Simmons, Bobby Bonds' triple and George Hendrick's single.
Consecutive one-out doubles by Maddox Schmidt and Greg Luzinski gave the Phillies two runs off Bob Forsch, 0-1, in the fourth inning, then Schmidt and Luzinski singled off reliever Roy Thomas to begin what turned out to be the decisive ninth.
Bob Boone followed with an RBI double and Trillo singled for two more runs. Don Hood re- placed Thomas and, after Pete Rose was safe on shortstop Garry Templeton's fielding error. Bake McBride drilled an RBI double and Maddox capped the burst with his two-run single.
The victory was No. 150 in a Phillies' uniform for Carlton, who had a four-hit shutout through eight innings.
Until the ninth, only Ken Reitz and Simmons had solved his deliveries. Reitz doubled and singled twice, but two double plays helped the Phillies' hurler. Simmons had singled with two out in the St. Louis fourth.
Forsch, after wavering in the top of the fourth, settled down and retired 12 straight batters until McBride singled in the Philadelphia eighth.
Forsch left for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the eighth. Six of the Phillies' 11 hits came in the ninth, with Templeton's error accounting for three unearned runs.
The victory improved Carlton's lifetime record against the Cards to 24-8.
Atlanta’s charming enough, but sports crowd’s not tuned in
By John Kunda, Executive Sports Editor
To the west of Augusta, some 145 miles down Interstate 20, is, what Southerners call, "Our Darlin' City."
Ah, Atlanta – charming, progressive, the New York of the South.
Nobody ever put the rap on Atlanta the way W.C. Fields put the rap on Philadelphia. Nothing "finah" south of Carolina. Peachtree Street in full bloom.
But Atlanta, with all its charm and big league ideas, is wavering as a professional sports town. Its major league status is suspect. Fan support, the backbone of any pro franchise, is sadly lacking.
Sure, the basketball Hawks are on solid ground, thanks to a winning season. And while the football Falcons aren't the strongest draw in the NFL, they are, nonetheless, surviving.
However, the hockey Flames are just about dead, and the baseball Braves could be before winter sets in.
If two out of four ain't bad, then Atlanta is doing well. Unfortunately, two out of four ain't good, and those involved with the the Flames and the Braves are singing the blues. Can anybody feel sorry for Ted Turner?
Really, it's embarrassing for those who sold the major leagues on Atlanta. "C'mon down, ya hear… the weather's fine, and we're growin'. Y'all love it down here." Without question, a great sales pitch.
But apparently, Georgians aren't buying hockey or baseball. Perhaps the hockey snub could be understandable – who ever heard of hockey in the South? But baseball? That's puzzling.
The crawling stage is over – the Flames just completed their eighth year, and the Braves are into their 14th season in Atlanta. That's long enough to see if the city has it or doesn't have it.
Let W.C. Fields say what he wants to say about Philadelphia. The Flyers, the Phillies, the 76ers and the Eagles are all doing fine, thanks.
With the exception of the Flyers, none have won anything In recent years, but the customers still keep coming around. And that's what this story is all about.
Let's look at the Flames. Pardon the pun, but they're a flicker of a franchise.
Never mind that the Flames got Olympic hero Jim Craig. They did well with him for a night – over 15,000 showed up for Craig's debut. The next night, the Flames were down to their normal weak draw, about 8,000.
The Flames lost over four million dollars in the last two seasons. Proof that their days in Atlanta are numbered was in the recent playoffs when they drew poorly for a series against the Rangers.
Sometime before June the decision as to whether the Flames stay in Atlanta or are sold by owner Tom Cousins and moved will be made.
Losing to the Rangers in the opening round of the playoffs, which wasn't totally unexpected because the Flames rarely win a playoff game, appeared to be the nail in the coffin.
Cliff Fletcher, the Flames' general manager, made some interesting observations:
“I know Tom Cousins wants to keep the team in Atlanta, but I don't know if he'll be able to find the people to help.
"And if the franchise does stay, there will have to be substantial price increases and we'll have to have twice as many season ticket holders. Whether or not we can go to the public and get this done, I don't know. But we can't continue to operate under the conditions we have for some time.
"Our gate receipts are the third-lowest in the league and we can't go on like that."
The Flames will have to make some decisions along the personnel lines as well. Especially with Craig.
The club has two proven NHL goalies, while Craig Has not yet showed he can play professionally. But Craig could possibly be very marketable. The Flames would like to keep him, but he's going to have to prove he can play in the NHL.
If the front office doesn't get the help from the public, look for the Flames in some other place, perhaps Calgary.
And now, the baseball Braves. At last look the Braves were 0-and-6 for the new season. At last look, the Braves were the lowest draw in the National League – they drew only 769,465 last year.
Put that figure next to the Phillies' 2.7 million and you can see that baseball's not the hottest thing in Atlanta in the summer.
Ted Turner was plenty loose with his checkbook, hoping to get a winner. He brought Gary Matthews, Chris Chambliss, Al Hrabosky and Luis Gomez to Atlanta, among others.
Will they help? Who knows, but at the moment nobody's helping the Braves.
Meanwhile, the Flyers are sold out as usual; the Sixers packed 'em in for the playoffs, and the Phillies are doing well for this time of the year.
What would W.C. Fields say about that?